Listed Building: FORMER RECTORY AND GARDEN RAILING (1375975)

CHESTER CITY (EM) SJ4066 VICARS LANE 1932-1/6/287 (North side) 28/07/55 No.3 Former Rectory and garden railing (Formerly Listed as: VICAR'S LANE No.3 St John's Rectory) GV II* Vicarage later rectory, then social club, now offices. c1750. Red-brown brick, Flemish bond to front; grey slate roof. EXTERIOR: 3 storeys, 5 windows. Painted stone plinth with moulded cap; rusticated quoins; 5-panel door and overlight with looped criss-cross glazing bars in painted stone Gibbs surround with pulvinated frieze and pediment; simple sillband; 2 flush 12-pane sashes each side of doorway. First-floor band; sillband; five flush 12-pane sashes; individual sills to five shorter 9-pane sashes to second floor; all windows to front have rusticated wedge lintels with projecting keystones. Modillion cornice; 10-course brick parapet with simple painted stone cornice; almost central gabled attic dormer behind parapet; flush chimneys on stone-coped gables. The left end has one almost flush sash per storey, 12-pane to ground floor and first floor and 6-pane to second floor. Rear has replaced 6-panel door, a flush 12-pane sash, and a similar opening blocked, to each side of door. The first floor has stair window of 6 panes above 12 panes, a blocked opening and a flush 12-pane sash to each side; the second floor has a flush 6-pane sash and a flush 9-pane sash. INTERIOR: entrance hall has replaced inner door, original dado rail and modillion cornice; doors of 6 fielded panels; round archway with fluted pilasters. The front left room has panelled dado, timber fire surround, panelled embrasures, possibly later cornice; the front right room has panelled embrasures; the back left room has part of dado rail, corner fireplace with good carved overmantel; panelled embrasure. Good 6-flight open-well open-string stair with carved brackets, curtail step with rose on ring of balusters, 3 column-on-vase balusters per step, drop-newels at landings and dado-rail on panelled pilasters; swept rail, probably of oak. The first-floor front room occupying central and left bays has panelled embrasures, fire surround with eared architrave, swag frieze and dentil cornice, good ceiling cornice; the front right room has panelled embrasure. The rear is altered; simple C18 fireplace in left room. Features have largely been stripped from the second floor. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: simple iron garden rail on stone plinth. Listing NGR: SJ4094666245